The invention relates generally to communication networks and methods, and more particularly to methods and systems for reconciling discrepancies in circuit information among various telecommunication network management systems.
Telecommunications service providers use many different types of network circuits to provide a variety of telecommunication services. Such services can include, for example, providing dedicated circuits within the Plain Old Telephone Service (“POTS”) network and providing access to an internet protocol (“IP”) network. When an end user requires such service, a connection from the end user's equipment to a network must be established. This often involves designing an appropriate circuit to establish a path from the customer site to the edge nodes of a network, assigning available network facilities for use in building the circuit, and connecting or establishing the designed circuit.
In some instances, establishing service in this manner involves multiple service providers. For example, an end user may contract with an inter-exchange carrier (“IXC”) to provide a network service, such as “800 service” for a given end user location. The inter-exchange carrier (“IXC”) may in turn contract with one or more local exchange carriers (“LECs”) to provide one or more dedicated circuits to connect the end user's equipment to an edge node within the IXC's core network. In other instances, however, an IXC may opt to provide one or more circuits to directly connect the end user's equipment to an edge node within the core network. Such direct circuits are often used when the end user is a large customer requiring a high volume of circuits.
Service providers employ various known management systems to facilitate establishing and/or allocating circuits to connect an end user's equipment to an edge node within a network. For example, an ordering database can include the details about the end user's service request, such as the bandwidth desired, the point of origination, and the point of destination. An inventory database can include a listing of the edge nodes and circuits that are available for connecting the end user's equipment to the network. In cases when a circuit is provided by a LEC, an interface system can be used to request a circuit from a LEC. A provisioning system can be used to establish a circuit by making the necessary software connections, thereby assigning the circuit to the end user. Finally, a billing system can be used to facilitate the billing activity associated with a circuit.
Some known network management systems employ information characterizing the circuits connecting an end user's equipment to an edge node to carry out their desired functions. Such information can include, for example, the end user associated with a circuit, the beginning and end locations associated with a circuit, and/or a common language code that identifies a circuit. In some instances, the circuit information is maintained in a central database, which is accessed by the various network management systems. In other instances, however, known network management systems do not share common data, but rather individually maintain records containing the circuit information. For example, some known billing systems maintain a database of records identifying the billing characteristics for a group of circuits while some known provisioning systems maintain a database of records identifying the facilities included within the same group of circuits.
In network management systems that maintain individual databases, discrepancies can exist between the information included therein. Such discrepancies can be caused by errors in the data input process, errors in transmitting data from one network management system to another, and the like. Known network management systems do not periodically review the status of information contained within the various network management systems to ensure that information associated with circuits within a network is consistent between the various network management systems. Thus, a need exists for methods and systems for reconciling discrepancies in circuit information among various telecommunication network management systems.